Thursday preps

* North Duplin's Samantha Wilkins crossed the finish line first in 25 minutes, 27 seconds during the third Carolina 1-A Conference girls' cross country meet contested on a humid Wednesday afternoon at Rosewood High School.

Princeton's Megan Evans claimed runner-up honors in 26:02, followed by Goldsboro's Tiara Maynor, who posted a time of 26:58. Rosewood's Charleigh Smith and Princeton's Taylor Smith completed the top five in 27:08 and 27:14, respectively.

The Eagles claimed the team portion with 38 points. The Bulldogs took second with 52, followed by North Duplin (65), Goldsboro (89) and meet guest Midway (97).

"Charleigh and Ashley Duran (seventh place) have been steadily improving each week and as first-year runners they are showing a lot of promise," said Rosewood head coach David Younts. "Our girls' team really works well together. Any one of our seven runners could lead our team week in and week out, and our depth has been the driving force of our success."

Midway's Caleb Sanders claimed the boys' meet in 18:53.

The Eagles' Nick Britt took second in 19:11, while Midway's Michael McLamb secured third in 19:24. Spring Creek's Allen Coor (19:34) and Princeton's Will Toler (19:39) ended up fourth and fifth, respectively.

Victor Prezbindowski emerged Goldsboro's top finisher with a ninth-place time of 20:22. Francisco Quirino led North Duplin with a 13th-place effort of 20:45.

Midway edged Princeton 41-40 in the team portion, but the Dogs seized the top spot with 27 points among competing Carolina Conference squads. Spring Creek grabbed second in league action with 72 points, followed by North Duplin (76), Rosewood (77) and Goldsboro (113).

* LaGRANGE -- North Lenoir jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 3-1 win over Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference foe Cleveland on Wednesday night.

Tyler Gray collected a pass from Oscar Navarette and fired a shot into the net in the 18th minute to open the scoring. Navarette added a goal in the 53rd minute off a pass from Justin Shimer, and closed the Hawks' tally with a goal in the 70th minute that was the end result of a free kick by Wilmar Gonzalez.